* Separate cases reveal fraud nationwide, officials say
* President of Houston hospital among those charged
WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Ninety-one people including
doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were charged
criminally in a new sweep of Medicare fraud involving seven U.S.
cities and $430 million in alleged false billing, officials said
on Thursday.
It was the government's second big raid in recent months
after a similar effort in May alleged $452 million in fraud in
Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.
The allegations include billing the government for
unnecessary ambulance rides in California, writing prescriptions
for patients in Dallas who did not qualify for them and paying
kickbacks such as food and cigarettes to patients in Houston if
they attended programs a hospital could later bill for.
The investigation is part of an effort by President Barack
Obama's administration to find healthcare savings, an issue that
also flared during Wednesday's debate between Obama and his
Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.
Medicare, a $590 billion program that serves nearly 50
million people, is a primary pot of money for trying to find
waste, fraud and abuse.
Indictments against the 91 defendants were unsealed on
Thursday after a coordinated investigation led by the U.S.
departments of Justice and of Health and Human Services,
officials said. Most of the 91 surrendered or were arrested.
Those charged were relatively small-time operators who
officials said tried to make a living defrauding Medicare and
its sibling program, Medicaid, which insures the poor.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said
at a news conference that the sweep should "send a clear message
to those perpetrating or contemplating Medicare and Medicaid
fraud: It's time to start looking for another line of work."
The examples of fraud "drive up healthcare costs and
jeopardize the strength of the Medicare program," said Attorney
General Eric Holder, head of the Justice Department.
The government has improved its ability to detect fraud in
real time, using software that evaluates reimbursement requests
for potential irregularities, officials said.
Of the 91 people charged this week, 33 were involved in
false billing in the Miami area. In separate cases, people were
accused of improperly billing the government for home health
services and mental health services.
Officials said they found an additional $42 million in
improper claims at a Houston hospital, Riverside General, where
they earlier said they found $116 million in fraud.
That is where officials said there patients received
cigarettes and other kickbacks if they attended a "partial
hospitalization program." Some patients watched TV instead of
receiving services there, the government said.
Riverside General's president was among seven employees
facing charges on Thursday. "We're going all the way up and
down," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the
Justice Department's Criminal Division, at the news conference
in Washington.
Later on Thursday, a Riverside General clerk read a
statement by phone saying the hospital's board is "saddened as
to the tactics utilized against this hospital" but supports its
president, Earnest Gibson. The board is awaiting legal advice
and had no further comment, she said.
The government expects to recoup at least some of what it
considers lost money. In a Miami case, the government is
restraining $4.6 million in assets including houses and bank
accounts, Breuer said.
In addition to fraud and kickback charges, some of the
defendants face allegations of identity theft and money
laundering.
